Posts Tagged ‘apples’

Spotted Wing DrosophilaOver the past couple of weeks, we have started to find spotted wing drosophila adults in traps placed in 6 locations throughout the state. The following new publications were recently developed by specialists at Penn State University and the University of Maryland.

High temperatures, clear skies and high light radiation, and long daylengths are a recipe for developing sunburn in fruits and fruiting vegetables. We commonly see sunburn in watermelons, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, apples, strawberries, and brambles (raspberries and blackberries).

There are three types of sunburn which may have effects on the fruit. The first, sunburn necrosis, is where skin, peel, or fruit tissue dies on the sun exposed side of the fruit. Cell membrane integrity is lost in this type of sunburn and cells start leaking their contents. The critical fruit tissue temperature for sunburn necrosis varies with type of fruit. For cucumbers research has shown that the fruit skin temperature threshold for sunburn necrosis is 100 to 104°F; for peppers, the threshold is 105 to 108°F, and for apples the critical fruit skin temperature is 125-127 °F. Fruits with sunburn necrosis are not marketable.

The second type of sunburn injury is sunburn browning. This sunburn does not cause tissue death but does cause loss of pigmentation resulting in a yellow, bronze, or brown spot on the sun exposed side of the fruit. Cells remain alive, cell membranes retain their integrity, cells do not leak, but pigments such as chlorophyll, carotenes, and xanthophylls are denatured or destroyed. This type of sunburn browning occurs at a temperature about 5°F lower than sunburn necrosis (115 to 120° F in apples). Light is required for sunburn browning. Fruits may be marketable but will be a lower grade.

The third type of sunburn is photooxidative sunburn. This is where shaded fruit are suddenly exposed to sunlight as might occur with late pruning, after storms where leaf cover is suddenly lost, or when vines are turned in drive rows. In this type of sunburn, the fruits will become photobleached by the excess light because the fruit is not acclimatized to high light levels, and fruit tissue will die. This bleaching will occur at much lower fruit temperatures than the other types of sunburn.

Genetics also play a role in sunburn and some varieties are more susceptible to sunburn. Varieties with darker colored fruit, those with more open canopies, and those with more open fruit clusters have higher risk of sunburn. Some varieties have other genetic properties that predispose them to sunburn, for example, some blackberries are more susceptible to fruit damage from UV light.

Control of sunburn in fruits starts with developing good leaf cover in the canopy to shade the fruit. Fruits most susceptible to sunburn will be those that are most exposed, especially those that are not shaded in the afternoon. Anything that reduces canopy cover will increase sunburn, such as foliar diseases, wilting due to inadequate irrigation, and excessive or late pruning. Physiological leaf roll, common in some solanaceous crops such as tomato, can also increase sunburn.

In crops with large percentages of exposed fruits at risk of sunburn, fruits can be protected by artificial shading using shade cloth (10-30% shade). However, this is not practical for large acreages. For sunburn protection at a field scale, use of film spray-on materials can reduce or eliminate sunburn. Many of these materials are Kaolin clay based and leave a white particle film on the fruit (such as Surround, Screen Duo, and many others). There are also film products that protect fruits from sunburn but do not leave a white residue, such as Raynox. Apply these materials at the manufacturer’s rates for sunburn protection. They may have to be reapplied after heavy rains or multiple overhead irrigation events.

Tracy Leskey (USDA/ARS) provided the following report: “It appears that the beginning of Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB) immigration and dispersal into commercial orchards has begun in earnest in both WV and MD. Crews out scouting reported large numbers of BMSB in managed peach trees. Not surprisingly, bugs were most dense in the peripheral zone of the plots bordering wild habitat, but not necessarily anywhere near structures. Estimates of bug density were in the vicinity of 3 bugs per tree in border rows, and feeding injury was very fresh but clearly evident.”

Over the past week, we received reports of Brown Marmorated Stink Bug adults being found in peaches and apple trees in West Virginia, NJ, Western Maryland and Virginia. So far, we have not heard of reports on the Eastern Shore but it is important that you scout orchards for activity. Reports from Dr. Tracy Leskey (USDA/ARS in WVA) indicated that the feeding in peaches was concentrated in the upper third of the canopy – and in some situations it appears that this is also the case with our native green and brown stink bugs. Please see the photos (courtesy of Dr. Tracy Leskey) of damage to young peaches online at http://agdev.anr.udel.edu/weeklycropupdate/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/BMSBonSmallPeaches.pdf.

Production of high yields of quality fruit requires adapted varieties, close attention to disease and insect management, balanced plant nutrients, and good weather conditions. One of the other key areas that growers need to consider is light. Leaves require adequate light levels to produce sugars by photosynthesis. These sugars are then translocated into developing fruit. Sugars also provide the building blocks of other flavor components. With this in mind, a very important aspect of fruit management is to insure even light distribution throughout the plant canopy. This applies equally to small fruits and tree fruits.

The following are some considerations to achieve this even light distribution and to manage for the best combination of yield and fruit quality.

1) Play close attention to plant densities and do not overcrowd plants. While more plants often means higher yields, excess shading at high populations can lead to reduced quality. Crops like matted row strawberries bear the most fruit and best quality fruit on the edges of the row. In most fruit crops, fruits on the interior of dense canopies often have poorer color, reduced sugars, and poorer flavor.

2) Choose pruning and training systems that allow for even light distribution. In fruits such as peaches, this is achieved by pruning so that scaffold branches are arranged in a open form V or vase shaped form. In crops that use a central leader system such as apples, it means pruning to appropriate spacings and orientations between scaffolds to allow for good light penetration. In summer bearing brambles, this means having trellis wires arranged so that fruiting canes are to the outside where they can receive the most light and training new canes to the in the middle. Pruning canes higher will also allow for more light along the length of the cane, however, they should not be so tall that they shade neighboring rows.

3) Thinning fruiting material and thinning foliage is often necessary for good fruit quality, color development, and uniform ripening. Leaf thinning is practiced in grapes for this reason. Thinning of blueberry canes to remove old and weak material is another example as is detail pruning of many tree fruits to remove excess fruiting wood and allow in more light.

Adapted from an article in Ky Pest News April 6, 2010 #1224 by John Hartman, Extension Plant Pathologist, University of Kentucky.

Flowering pears (Pyrus calleryana), grown in many landscapes, are in full bloom in most of Delaware. Pears grown for fruit in backyards and orchards in the region are also in flower now. Fire blight can be a devastating disease of nursery and landscape flowering pears and can also damage pears (both Asian and European) in fruit orchards.

Fire blight primary infections occur during bloom. During warm spring weather, the causal bacteria (Erwinia amylovora) grow on the surface of flower parts such as the stigma. After several warm days, high populations of bacteria become available to be washed by rainfall or even heavy dew into the nectaries at the base of the flowers. Once inside the flower, the bacteria continue to grow, killing the fruit spur and spreading into the subtending twigs and branches. Disease build-up from these infections leads to shoot infections, the most noticeable part of this disease, which appears later.

This year, a new version of a computer program called Maryblyt has become available to help nursery growers and orchardists make decisions to manage fire blight disease. This new version of the program, called Maryblyt 7, utilizes Windows-based computers and was updated by plant pathologists Dr. A. R. Biggs (Tree Fruit Research and Education Center, Kearneysville West Virginia) and Dr. W. W. Turechek, (USDA-ARS, Florida). They have indicated that it is free for the downloading by growers, extension agents and crop advisors.

This is a good time for growers to get the program running for the 2010 season. Growers can enter the data themselves and the program automatically provides a chart and graph of fire blight status. Growers only need to provide date, growth stage, daily maximum and minimum temperatures, and rainfall (or heavy dew) for their nursery or orchard. Weather data are entered into the program starting at green tip (perhaps sometime between March 21-24 this year) so weather data from recent weeks will need to be found. Growers wanting weather data specific to their orchard or nursery can purchase a maximum/minimum thermometer and a rain gauge at the hardware store. By knowing when infection is expected, preventive orchard and nursery applications of streptomycin can be used in a timely way.